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Rains recede in Kerala; Death toll around 70

Last Updated 11 August 2019, 20:31 IST

With the bodies of more missing people being recovered from various parts of Kerala, the death toll of this natural calamity in Kerala is around 70 by Sunday evening.

Still, about 50 people were reported missing at Kavalappara in Malappuram and seven at Puthumala in Wayanad.

While there was a considerable decline in rains in northern districts of Kerala on Sunday, the water level in southern and central parts of the district like Kainakari and Kuttanad in Alappuzha and Kumarakom in Kottayam saw a rise. Hundreds of families were shifted to safe places. However, by afternoon the rains receded in those areas.

As per IMD weather forecast on Sunday, extremely heavy rainfall was unlikely in any parts of Kerala till August 15.

Benny, a native of Kuttanad, said that owing to lapses on the part of authorities in setting up proper bunds about 200 acre of paddy field was being damaged.

Hardly a few months ago, the farmers invested about Rs 15,000 per acres, he said.

Rescue operations began at Kavalapara by Sunday morning. Four bodies were reported to have been recovered from the area till Sunday evening. Local people were also trying to find if any of the 50 odd people still missing had taken shelter at any safe places.

At Puthumala in Wayanad, another body was recovered taking the death toll in the region to ten.

Though local people expressed concerns that about 40 could have been trapped in the debris of the landslide that occurred in a vast area, the revenue officials said only seven more people were missing from the locality.

Meanwhile, a section of people of in these areas has started alleging that the police or revenue authorities did not give adequate warning to them ahead of the landslide.

Objections were also being raised against use of earth movers to search for people under the debris.

At Kottakunnu in Malappuram bodies of Geethu, 21, and her one-year-old son Dhruvan were recovered, while Geethu's mother-in-law is still missing.

Triggering high emotions, the child was being firmly held by her mother even when their bodies were recovered. Geethu's husband and father-in-law had a narrow escape. A Video footage of a landslide caving in over their house had earlier gone viral.

At Kasargod district, floodwater started receding at areas close to the Tejaswani river.

Many families in Neeleswarm and Hosdurg, who were shifted to relief camps, started returning to their homes. Three members of a family at Anakallu near Kanhangad in Kasargod had a narrow escape after the earth caved in over their house on Saturday evening. One of them suffered injuries.

Bodies of several persons missing in various parts of north Kerala were also recovered.

About 2.3 lakh people were staying at 1,556 relief camps across Kerala on Sunday afternoon. As many as 241 houses across the state were damaged and 2,576 houses were partially damaged.

Many roads in Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhikode that were damaged due to landslides were restored. Train services in Shornur-Palakkad sector was restored. Flight operations from Nedumbaserry airport in Kochi, which was shut on Thursday night, resumed by Sunday noon.

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(Published 11 August 2019, 15:01 IST)

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